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The home appliance manufacturers in Europe have managed to face a number of challenges and create opportunities that have contributed to an economically stronger and more sustainable Europe, the new statistical report of the association representing the sector, APPLiA shows.

The “The Home Appliance Industry in Europe, 2017-2016” , launched on 16th May and hosted by the MEP Brando Benifei (S&D) at the European Parliament, is a unique compilation of numbers that give a better idea for the direction of the sector. Maintaining our industry’s Home Appliance 2025 vision and call for action, the report has been split in three key pillars looking further at how to advance sustainable lifestyles, make citizens live connected homes and accelerate Europe’s growth.

The basics

Direct and indirect value added to the European GDP comes down to almost 53 billion, the annual turnover of the sector is more than € 47 billion within the EU and almost 900 000 people directly or indirectly contribute to the development of an innovative and forward-looking sector, Sanne Goossens, Smart Living and Competitiveness Policy Manager at APPLiA pointed out.

Living the Connected Home

The discussion turned naturally towards the constantly evolving technology and the need for devices to be trusted by consumers and considered as safe. “Products need to be cybersecure by default”, said APPLiA’s Director-General, Paolo Falcioni, explaining that security from the start is the approach that home appliance manufacturers follow right from the design of products in the factories. “By 2020, it is estimated that there will be 50 billion connected devices, globally and this rapid development emphasises the importance of cybersecurity and e-privacy. I strongly believe that we will find a solution to all challenges before reaching this impressive number”, he continued.

Martin Spaet, Policy Officer on Cybersecurity at DG CONNECT underlined that the aim of the European Commission is to create a level of security assurance and adopt the European Certification System by the end of the year.

Accelerating Europe’s Growth

After China, Europe is still one of the biggest markets for home appliances, staying ahead of North America and holding 31% of the global market of home appliances. When it comes to the movement of products, the statistical report illustrates that 78% of the imports of large home appliances in 2016 have remained within Europe. “I would like to keep this classification as positive also in the next years. We need to make sure that our companies in Europe can remain competitive and this is one of the reasons why we would need to get the currently discussed Goods Package right”, Paolo Falcioni underlined.

Speaking about market surveillance authorities and their role, which has been put under revision with the upcoming legislation, Ewout Deurwaarder, Policy Officer on Market Surveillance, DG GROW assured that the principle of proportionality will be followed also in the new rules and that the creation of trust, as well as “making authorities actually working with businesses” in a cooperative manner will be prioritised.

“I have taken some post-its from my office that guide me throughout my work”, Michel Anderlini, policy advisor, head of office of MEP Selimovic (ALDE) started. “On them it is written “to make products safer”, “to enhance the Single Market” and after each meeting, I come back to them”, he continued. Anderlini noted that he would need to make sure that the limited resources of market surveillance authorities are better used, and shared that he is not convinced that an investment in an EU-wide database declaration of conformity would be the best way to put those resources into practice.

Last but not least, the acceleration of the economy comes mostly from the investment in human resources. In this respect, the host of the event, MEP Brando Benifei, noted that the idea of life-long learning needs to be promoted and that the EU could clearly outline together with the private sector what are the skills that will be needed.

Advancing sustainable lifestyles

In this year’s edition, the chapter dedicated to sustainability has considerably evolved, providing a full picture of the circularity of the material flows of the home appliance industry. The pillar, however, shows a lot more than the end-of-life of appliances. A dishwasher, for example, can reduce an average household’s water consumption by more than 80% - compared to doing the dishes by hand. It also helps for the saving of quite a lot of energy, with a reduction of more than 60%. What is more, over the period of 2011-2015, our sector has made quite a lot of progress in reducing waste generation (-15%), water consumption (-30%) and energy consumption (-13%) during the production of home appliances.